One of the UK’s largest software companies has announced the appointment of Rachel Steenson as Business Development Manager for its NI market.
With operations in the UK and Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Canada and North America, Civica is a global provider of smart software for the public sector. The company‘s digital solutions are used by 2.5M public sector professionals around the world, who collectively provide vital public services for over 90 million people.
Sync NI caught up with Rachel to discuss her new role and why she chose to develop her career at Civica.
Having completed an MSc in Computer Science at Queens University Rachel began her career as an Oracle database specialist working in various fields within the public sector before joining Geographic Information Systems provider ESRI and most recently joining Civica.
While Civica’s history dates back to the 1980s, the Group in its present form was established in 2001, and somewhat fittingly the same year Rachel initially began her career and 20 years of experience working in the IT industry.
RELATED: NI Digital Awareness Week launches to encourage young people into technology
With offices spanning the globe, Civica is already well known in Northern Ireland given its role in developing the widely used CovidCertNI. This vital App was created in partnership with Digital Health & Care NI (DHCNI) and the Digital Transformation Service (DTS).
“Knowledge, integrity and action are the cornerstones of everything that Civica does” Rachel explains and ultimately it was these guiding principles that drew her to join this dynamic company.
“Civica provides public sector-focused smart software solutions across a range of markets and geographies. It has been amazing to learn the breadth and depth of our solutions and the customers we work with. Did you know we’ve provided solutions as varied as the voting system for Strictly Come Dancing and a Crisis Hub for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office? In Northern Ireland, we’ve delivered a huge range of online government services from Driver Licensing through Birth, Death and Marriage registration right up to the COVID passport app.”
We ask Rachel about her first impressions in her new role at Civica and she explains: “For such a large organisation, we employ over 5,000 people globally, there is a real family feel. It has been great to get into the office at least once a week to start to meet my colleagues locally as well as meeting teams across the UK online, all of who have been so welcoming and helpful as I find my feet.”
Rachel goes on to tell us more specifically about what attracted her to the company and the new role as well as her motivation to move to Civica. “I chose to join Civica for two reasons, for their culture, and ethos that became more and more apparent as I went through the interview process.”
RELATED: Tech Trailblazer Profile - Tech Trailblazers: Aine McCaughey
Rachel continues: “When people talk about what drives them, for me it has always been wanting to help, wanting to solve problems and make things better for individuals and communities. I think this drive stems from my parents, mum was a nurse and dad a civil servant. I even ended up working with dad for a short time in the Land Property Services! This drive has helped me choose my career choices as well as the organisations I get involved with like, BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT and my recent appointment on the board of Alpha Housing.”
Rachel also adds: “Everyone I have met in Civica has impressed me with their passion and enthusiasm for their role in the organisation, they really are an impressive group of people. I can honestly say that the people I have met in Civica have that same outlook: how we can make citizens' engagement with the government easier; how can we reduce burdens on an over-extended health service; how can technology help? Then couple that with this real drive for Innovation, where staff are actively encouraged to not only come up with ideas but to see them through to fruition makes for a really exciting, dynamic place to work. The second reason I chose to move to Civica was to take that next step on the ladder and to join a company that puts a real focus on personal development.”
Rachel was also attracted to Civica’s strong ethos in training, self-development and career progression. Rachel explains: “They have a fantastic Learning Management Solution which we use ourselves and I have been impressed by how much focus is given to ensuring that you are continually improving existing skills and learning new ones.”
Rachel then tells us about her first three months in Civica, stating “I have been part of the team that arranged the NI Digital Awareness Week, a virtual conference for all post-primary schools in Northern Ireland. That was launched by the Education Minister. I arranged joint funding from the Dept for the Economy and the Department of Education for all those schools that attended to receive micro:bits for their classes. Me and the team in the Belfast office raised over £1000 for Business Beats Cancer Belfast by exercising every day for 30 minutes for the month of September and I attended my first in person conference in over 2 years. Not bad as starts go and that’s on top of the day job! I love the variety and the flexibility I have within my role and the opportunity to be part of something bigger.”
Rachel concludes by telling the team: “It is an amazing time to be in the Tech industry in Northern Ireland and I can’t think of a better company to be part of and to grow with.”
